How To Be a Blind Architect

99% Invisible talks with Chris Downey, an architect who lost his sight three years ago and who continues to work.

1 minute read

November 20, 2010, 1:00 PM PST

By Nate Berg


"'Beethoven continued to write music, even some of his best music, after he lost his hearing What's more preposterous, composing music you can't hear, or designing architecture you can't see?' Chris Downey had been an architect for 20 years before he lost his sight. It would be understandable to think that going blind would mean the end of his career, but that turned out not to be the case at all."

By using a computer that talks really fast to him, he can still create architectural plans. He talks about how his lack of sight has changed the way he designs and thinks about buildings.

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